Editorial: Video recording board meetings a success in itself
Village leaders in Schaumburg are trying to decide what criteria will best determine whether a proposed trial period for video recording their meetings is successful. Actually, there's only one they need to consider and it's not the one Trustee Tom Dailly identified in a Daily Herald story Monday by staff writer Eric Peterson.
Dailly deserves credit for suggesting last month that Schaumburg investigate video recording its meetings, but the measure of the effort's success does not come down, as he told Peterson, to viewership. The measure of success is that the village does the recording at all. The issue isn't just how many people watch videos of village board meetings. It's that all citizens have access to see their government in action.
No one would suggest that videos of the Schaumburg village trustees in action - or of any governing board at work - will be the next viral sensation on YouTube. But live-streamed videos of the board are a way to ensure that any citizen can check up on local government in real time as well as to provide an enduring record for anyone who may wish to research issues that have come before the board.
Of course, Schaumburg trustees are prudent to want to know the cost of doing the recording. Village Manager Brian Townsend estimates startup costs in the range of $12,000 to $15,000, and ongoing expenses of about $50 a meeting. For a village with an annual budget in the range of $250 million, that prospect hardly qualifies as an extravagance.
And the result is something other governing bodies in the suburbs - including the city of Elgin, the village of Hoffman Estates and the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 school board - all have found to have value, in spite of the fact that viewership numbers are measured by the scores rather than by the hundreds or thousands.
"I think (video recording) serves a good function if it fits into your budget. It's the ultimate in transparency," said District 211 Trustee Mucia Burke.
Video-recorded meetings aren't the only measure of a governing unit's transparency, but they certainly are evidence of commitment. Undertaking the practice reinforces an atmosphere of openness that all citizens welcome and appreciate.
So, Schaumburg village trustees - or members of any government or school board - need not conduct some intricate experiment to find out whether viewership numbers justify it. Any activity that gives the community easier access to the workings of government is a success already.